KOSOVO: CONFLICT NEAR PODUJEVO CONTINUES

PRISTINA, Dec 27 (Hina) - Serbian forces on Sunday morning opened fire on the village of Lapashtica, near the northern Kosovo municipality of Podujevo, a Kosovo Albanian source reported. The attack on Lapashtica, one of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) strongholds, lost on intensity around midday. The consequences of the attack are still unknown. The situation in Podujevo is also difficult, the Kosovo Information Centre reported. Two strong explosions could be head coming from Podujevo this morning. The municipality is under police blockade so that details about the explosions are not known. According to the same source, on Saturday night KLA members discovered the body of a 43-year-old Albanian Ajvaz Poter in the village of Donja Lapashtica. Poter was killed during the latest Serbian attack on the village. A local human rights committee has information that three persons were killed in the Serbian offensive on the nearby village of Obraqe on Saturday, however, the information has not been confirmed yet. Radio Pristina, which broadcasts programme in Serbian, reported that a Kosovo Serb was wounded near the village of Velika Reka, (Podujevo municipality) this morning. The Serbian authorities have accused "Albanian terrorists" of this incident. (hina) rml